Texas pension embarks on infrastructure investment

The $24 billion Employees’ Retirement System of Texas announced plans to commit up to $235 million to infrastructure in 2014 as part of an overall plan to reach a 4 percent target allocation by 2015. The decision was made at its Aug. 20 board of trustees meeting,

“Infrastructure staff and the infrastructure consultant believe that 2014 will be an attractive vintage year for infrastructure investment,” notes the Aug. 20 board meeting agenda.

Texas ERS adopted a 4 percent target allocation to infrastructure investment in February, and in March the retirement system transferred nearly $170 million of existing power infrastructure investments into its newly established infrastructure portfolio, including investments in three Texas power plants made with Panda Power Funds.

“For fiscal year 2014, ERS infrastruc